SEARCH BY KEYWORD

ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, videos, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.

OVERVIEW

Students are invited to attend a 19th Century party as a character from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. To play this role, students must understand the values and customs Dickens' characters represented in Victorian society. This lesson is divided into three stages: Group Investigative Roles, Individual Characterizations, and Individual Presentations. Students collaboratively research the life and times of Charles Dickens as it relates to a character, and write and present a first-person character analysis.

FEATURED RESOURCES

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

This lesson blends the interactive strategies of Bernie Dodge's WebQuest Taskonomy with the reading and writing character workshops outlined in Donald Graves' book, Bring Life into Learning. This lesson can be used to teach characterization, elements of drama, and presentation skills. It engages students in cooperative learning, note taking, and roleplaying activities. Students research print and nonprint sources, and search selected Internet sites in an effort to understand the motives, actions, and symbolism of Dickens' characters. The researched information is synthesized into a first-person character analysis.